Twenty-five years of anticipation can finally be put to rest today when the Holzworth family gets a look inside the city's 75th anniversary time capsule.
Siblings Tim and Tracy Holzworth are arriving in Prince George this morning, just in time for the excavation of the time capsule buried at the intersection of Highways 16 and 97.
For many current and former Prince George residents, getting a peek inside the vacuum-sealed metal box is exciting. But for the Holzworth family, it's extra poignant.
For nearly 25 years (for reasons unknown, the city's 75th birthday was in 1990, but the time capsule wasn't buried until June 1991), Tim, Tracy and sister Leila have waited to find out what their mother, Helen, left inside for them.
"I remember her telling us that she was going to do this but she was very secretive," said Tim. "She wouldn't tell anyone what it was. She just laughed and giggled in her way and said, 'you'll just have to wait and find out. You'll have to wait and see.'"
Though Helen expected to be there to see her children make the discovery, it wasn't meant to be. Shortly after the time capsule was put together, Helen was diagnosed with ALS.
"My last vivid memory of her being healthy and happy was the excitement she had of putting something into the time capsule," Tracy said of her mother who died about five years ago after a 19-year stretch with the illness. "So having this capsule coming and being unearthed with her gone is very touching."
Knowing that the decision to put whatever it is inside the time capsule was made before his mother received her diagnosis puts the item in a different light for Tim.
"They gave her two years and she lasted 19. She expected to be gone right away," Tim said. "But this was all done before she even knew any of that, so it comes from a really happy place of before."
Though they no longer live in the city, Tim and Tracy's Prince George roots run deep with both sides of the family stretching back for multiple generations.
Prior to her death, Helen worked at the Flamingo Beauty Lounge for 40 years and the Holzworth family also owned and operated Sunnyside Grocery in what is now the Sushi Hut on Central Street East.
The time capsule will be exhumed from behind the Welcome to Prince George sign at 11 a.m. It will then be opened at the Bob Harkins branch of the Prince George Public Library at 3:45 p.m.
The contents will be displayed at the library for a week, before being returned to its resting place along with another 100th anniversary capsule, set to be reopened in the city's 200th year.
Tim and Tracy have prepared an item for the new capsule in the form of one of Tracy's handmade books, with a cover made from pulp from the Prince George Pulp Mill.
The book contains Holzworth family genealogy and photos. Tim is also adding non-genetically modified seeds from his farm.
"If there's a chance they do survive (100 years), they may grow," he said.
Items going into the new time capsule will be on display at Pine Centre in the centre court until July 15. Residents can also give their input into what additional items should be interred for the next 100 years at that location.
Tracy said her family is privileged to have this experience ahead of them, and that she's looking forward to no longer wondering what her mother had in mind every time she comes to town.
"It's almost like she's just coming up to say 'hi' one last time and we can just say goodbye," she said.
A full schedule of centennial festivities is available at PG100.ca.
